There is a steadily growing appreciation for the benefits of regular exercise, and many persons incorporate a range of different exercises into their exercise programs. Jumping jacks are a widely used form of exercise. The exercise begins with a person standing, feet together and arms at their side. In the first stage of the exercise, a person jumps upward while pivoting their legs out to the sides and simultaneously swinging their straightened arms to an overhead position. The second phase of the exercise begins with a person's legs on the floor in a straddle position, and their arms straight overhead. The person again jumps upward while pivoting the legs back to a closed position and swinging the straightened arms to a lowered position. In the jumping jack exercise, the arms and legs move in the straddle plane, and within the context of this disclosure, a straddle plane is defined as a plane passing generally through a person's spine and shoulders, and extending generally laterally from the person's body. Motion of a person's arms and legs, when carrying out a jumping jack exercise, is to be contrasted with motion of their arms and legs during walking, running and striding exercises in which such motion occurs generally perpendicular to the straddle plane.
Jumping jack exercises provide good aerobic conditioning and exercise a large number of muscles. Since jumping jack exercises take place primarily in the straddle plane, they provide a range of motion not generally achievable with other exercises and hence are a good adjunct to stepping, striding, and running exercises. However, jumping jack exercises are jarring to the spine, knees, and ankles and hence can produce or aggravate joint damage. These problems have limited the use of jumping jack exercises in many training programs.
Accordingly, it will be appreciated that there is a need for an exercise apparatus which provides the benefits of exercise in the straddle plane, while minimizing the jarring impacts associated with traditional jumping jack exercises. The prior art does not disclose or suggest any apparatus which allow jumping jack exercises to be carried out under low impact conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,225 shows a skiing simulator which allows for combined side to side and vertical movement of a user's legs in a manner corresponding to those encountered in downhill skiing. However, the device disclosed in this patent does not provide for any pivoting motion of the user's arms and does not permit simultaneous, outward leg pivoting and arm pivoting in the straddle plane as is achieved in jumping jack exercises. U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,224 discloses a striding exercise apparatus which allows for the motion of a user's arms and legs in a plane generally perpendicular to the straddle plane so as to simulate walking. Again, this apparatus cannot be employed to carry out jumping jack exercises. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that the prior art does not show or suggest any exercise apparatus which allows for the low impact, simultaneous pivoting motion of a user's arms and legs in the straddle plane. As will be explained in detail herein below, the present invention is directed to an exercise apparatus which supports a user in a spaced apart relationship with the floor, so as to permit the user to carry out jumping jack exercises under low impact conditions. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the drawings, discussion, and description which follow.